More and more instant lottery tickets are sold in automatic vending machines. Usually, the instant tickets are printed on a long strip, which may be fan-folded, and the individual tickets are separated by perforations. The ticket width typically varies from 2 to 4 inches and the length typically varies from 2 to 12 inches. However, “die cut” tickets which have irregular shapes are becoming increasingly popular.
During the ticket delivery process, the perforation must be placed very accurately under a cutting or separating system that will burst the perforation and send a single ticket to the presentation stage, such as a bin that allows a purchaser to retrieve a purchased ticket through a window, for example.
FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a typical ticket delivery system 10. As seen therein, the ticket 12 is moved by a feed drive roller 14 from right to left from an entry point A to an exit point B, over the cutting system 16 to the exit rollers 18. The feed drive roller 14 can be driven by a DC motor 20 with a worm gear 22, for example. Attached to the motor is a code wheel 24 which passes through an optical sensor that counts the number of slots in the code wheel 24. The number of slots counted is proportional to the distance the ticket travels. A feed idler roller 15 pushes the ticket 12 against the drive roller 14 to generate enough friction so that the ticket does not slip. The point at which the feed drive roller 14 and feed idler roller 15 meet is called the “nip point”. There is a feed roller nip point as well as an exit roller nip point. As the feed drive roller 14 rotates, the ticket 12 is moved by the outer surface of the feed drive roller 14. Once the ticket 12 passes the exit rollers 18, both the exit and feed rollers will move the ticket. As soon as the perforation of the ticket is in the proper position for bursting/cutting, the feed and exit rollers stop, the cutting system 16 bursts the perforation and the ticket is ejected by the exit rollers.
The exact movement of the ticket depends on the diameter of the feed roller as well as the friction of the drive roller system.
In performing the above functions, there is typically an optical sensor device located at or near position B in FIG. 1, which (1) senses the edge of a ticket so it can be precisely positioned relative to the perforation where the ticket must be cut, and (2) senses that the ticket was delivered and left the machine. The optical sensor device is typically embodied in an optical sensor pair containing a transmitter (e.g., light emitting diode (LED)) and a receiver (e.g., a photo transistor). As soon as an object interrupts the light beam, the output of the receiver changes, and this information is sent to the machine's controller. Also, if the sensor is still blocked after the ticket was supposed to be delivered, the controller will be able to shut the machine down.
Whether used on the ticket exit side, ticket entry side, or both, optical sensor pairs are highly affected by dust and dirt and are traditionally only used at one location on the entry and exit sides. Further, if a die cut (e.g., not rectangular-shaped) ticket is used, then the sensor will not always sense the presence of a ticket and the controller will sense an error. Ticket processing errors can results in improperly cut tickets, ticket jams and machine shut downs while repairs take place. All such events result in lost revenue from the machine.
In addition to the problems caused by fixed point location of optical sensor pairs, ticket burster machines suffer when attempting to process tickets of different thicknesses. Tickets for a single game may traditionally have nearly the identical thickness, but ticket dispensing machines are being required to process tickets of all shapes, sizes and thicknesses. As stated above, to dispense a ticket, it has to be transported between one or more pairs of rollers. The force between the feed roller pair and/or exit roller pair is called the nip force. The distance between the rollers is fixed, which works very well if only one thickness of ticket is used. However, since tickets can range from 0.006″ to 0.012″ (and pull-tab tickets may even be up to 0.025 inches in some places), traditional systems with fixed roller distances create many problems.
A further issue with maintaining the proper nip force is created by the use of rubber material on the rollers, since this material is susceptible to wear and tear that can reduce its thickness over time, which can change the distance between rollers and thereby compromise the nip force of the rollers.
Further, current ticket bursters suffer from the inability to keep tickets of different shapes and sizes in properly aligned format as they enter the machine. If a die-cut ticket happens to be rotated off the normal plane to the point of ticket entry in the burster machine, the cutter/burster element will not properly align with the ticket perforation, causing uneven ticket cuts and requiring that the machine be shut down.
Even further, the machine of the present invention is typically employed as part of a larger, commercial size ticket dispensing machine. In many cases, four (4) machines are aligned next to each other within the commercial machine so as to facilitate different tickets being offered by the same machine. At times, one or more individual burster machines must be removed and reinstalled for various reasons, typically for field service repair or maintenance. Typically with four machine (i.e., “quad” burster) assemblies, the four ticket bins are connected by a common frame and common drive system, and require a cable to be connected after installation to supply power and communication. To remove the quad burster, one is required to remove screws and lift away the four bins as an integrated assembly, which can be cumbersome. Also, because the four bins are inseparable, the failure of one bin will result in the failure of the remaining three bins. These and other problems are addressed by the present invention.